Method for building levees



y 1936. w. E. PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nov. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-$heet ly 1935- w. E. PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nv. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2if r y 1936' W. E PHILIPS 2,040,022

METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES Original Filed Nov. 14, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet sW. E. PHILIPS METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES May 5, 1936. I

Original Filed Nov; 14, .1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 5, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD FOR BUILDING LEVEES William E.Philips, Chicago, Ill., assjgnor to Link- Bclt Company, a corporation ofIllinois 6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in methods forbuilding levees and constitutes a division of my Patent No. 1,980,634,of November 13, 1934.

The primary object of the invention is to provide methods for buildinglevees which involve primarily the enlargement of old or existing leveesto produce new levees of modern dimensions.

A further object of the invention is to provide methods of theabove-mentioned type which will substantially reduce the cost of leveeconstruction.

Other objects relate to the particular features of the methods and theadvantages derived therefrom, all of which will be pointed out and fullyexplained in the following description of the embodiments of theinvention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Figures 1 to 3 inclusive are perspective views illustrating acorresponding number of different methods, and equipment layoutstherefor, for levee construction work.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a feeder unit which may be used in each oneof the layouts abovementioned and which is designed to receive materialtaken from a borrow pit, disintegrate same and feed it onto the mainconveyor system by which it is carried in a continuous stream to thelevee, and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Fundamentally, the new methods consist in transporting a relativelycontinuous stream of material from the point of origin to the'leveesite,

3 where it is suitably distributed to form a levee of the desired type.Preferably, the material is distributed in relatively small increments.According to the methods, the excavating machines may be positioned ontop of the borrow pit, with a conveyor system serving the severalexcavators and conveying the material dug thereby to the buildingportion of the levee. At this point the material is received by adistributing unit which may take the form of a swinging boom conveyor,and this unit controllably distributes the material according to apredetermined plan, for building the levee.

According to the method, and layout of equipment, illustrated in Figure1, it is designed particularly for the enlargement of existing leveesalthough it may be also used for the construction of levees ofrelatively small cross-sectional area. In this method there is providedone or more excavators A a corresponding number of feeders B one or aseries of conveyor units C and a distributing unit D The conveyor unitsC may be mounted on skids E while the other units may be mounted oncaterpillars as indicated. It will be noted that the distributing unit Dis positioned to one side of the levee which is to be 5 enlarged. Thusthere is provided a series of units arranged in a straight lineextending at right angles to the line of the levee, the final unit Dhowever, being capable of swinging movement and having a considerableradius of action. The 10 borrow pit from which material is taken by theexcavators A follows the line of the building levee and the excavatingwork progresses in step with the construction of the levee. It will beunderstood, of course, that the borrow pit will be 15 of such width asis required to provide the volume of material required for theparticular levee under construction. Thus, by simply providing anappropriate number of excavating units, feeder units and conveyor units,any desired size of 0 levee can be constructed with this equipment andaccording to the method here involved.

The reference character (3 indicates the old or previously formed leveewhich is to be enlarged and which in reality forms the core of the new25 levee construction. The distributing unit D is in the form of aswinging boom conveyor designed to receive prepared material from theseries of conveyor units C and distribute the same to form on one sideof the levee a toe 1 which is built up and merged into the old leveeconstruction. In some cases, an enlargement on one side of the levee maybe sufficient but in others it may be desired to provide a similarenlargement on the opposite side of the levee, in which case theswinging boom distributor may be so positioned as to discharge materialthroughout a portion of its radius of action onto the opposite side ofthe levee. Such material may then be recast by means of draglines, orthe like, for the purpose of forming an enlargement on this side'of theold levee.

A second levee enlargement method is illustrated in Figure 2 andinvolves the use of excavators A a corresponding number of feeders 3*,one or a series of conveyor units 0 and a distributing unit Dsubstantially the same as the corresponding units illustrated in Figure1, although somewhat differently arranged. In this layout of equipment,the distributing unit D consists of a bridge mounted on tracks arrangedparallel to the line of the levee, and the swinging boom conveyoroperates from various positions lengthwise of this bridge and also iscapable of swinging movement. The swinging boom conveyor is sup- 7 thewidth'of the levee.

plied with material from the final conveyor unit C by means of a tripperH The old levee is indicated at G and the enlargement at F In thepractice of this method the excavating units A deposit material into thehoppers of their respective feeders B which in turn disinte grate thematerial, reduce it to appropriate sizes and feed it onto the mainconveyor unit or units C The material thus delivered and prepared is fedinto the hopper at the end of the distributing unit D and by means ofthe tripper mechanism is ultimately delivered to the hopper of theswinging boom conveyor. The swinging boom operates through an aresomewhat less than 90 rearwardly from'the position in which it is shown.Thus the material may be variably discharged from the elevated end ofthe swinging boom to form the toe and gradually build up the body of thelevee enlargement to merge it into the old levee construction, When itis desired to enlarge the old levee construction on the side oppositethe borrow pit, the distributing boom may be so positioned as todischarge material through a portion of its radius of action onto theopposite side of the levee. Such material may be permitted to slide orslip down the sloping surface of the old levee for building up thesecond enlargement.

In Figure 3 there is illustrated a further embodiment of the invention,particularly designed for enlarging and rebuilding old levees. Forcarrying out this method there is employed one or more excavating unitsA adapted to discharge material into feeder units B positioned on aseries of alined conveyor units C which extend at right angles to thelevee. The units C, as shown, are provided with supports E although theymay be track mounted as shown in the preceding Figure 2.

The last unit C of the series is positioned on one of the lateralinclined surfaces of an old levee, with its discharge end positioned todeliver material onto'a conveyor unit D which extends longitudinally ontop of the old levee. A swinging boom distributor H is positionedadjacent the discharge end of unit D and is adapted to receive materialtherefrom to carry out the desired reconstruction or enlargement work.

The old levee is indicated at F and there is shown as having beenconstructed, an enlargement G. .In the particular case illustrated, theenlargement is of uniform character, extending It should be understood,however, that any desired reconstruction or enlargement plan may becarried out with the equipment and by the method described. Thepreferred manner of constructing this levee enlargement is to constructtoes on opposite sides of the old levee and build up the materialbetween these toes to form the complete enlargement of uniformcharacter, as illustrated, and to merge the new construction into theold levee structure.

A preferred form of feeder unit is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. Thefeeder unit disclosed in these two figures is the type of feeder unitdesignated by the characters B B and B in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Thefeeder H, shown in Figures 4 and 5, consists of an endless bar type ofconveyor made up of a plurality of bars h This conveyor moves in thedirection indicated by the of a conveyor unit and that the feeder H isprovided with suitable wheels h supported by these tracks. A motor h isprovided which through suitable transmission mechanism is arranged todrive the conveyor of the feeder and also to propel the feederlengthwise of the conveyor when occasion requires. Positioned in spacedrelation to the discharge end of the feeder conveyor isa verticalabutment h and carried by this plate are two knives or cutters n Thesecutters k are arranged at a substantial angle to the vertical and'inlaterally spaced relation. Thus, a large lump of material dischargedfrom the feeder conveyor falls directly onto the knives 71. and issupported thereby until substantially disintegrated by the means now tobe described.

Certain ones of the bars h of the conveyor are provided with cutters hThese cutters are of elbowform arranged to be freely journaled on thebars h and to engage adjacent bars to main tain them in operativeposition. Thus, the cutters n extend vertically upward on the loadcarrying travel of the conveyor and depend downwardly on the returntravel of the conveyor, as indicated clearly in Figure 5.

A portion of the material discharged onto the bars h of the conveyorwill pass between these bars and fall directly onto the belt of aconveyor positioned therebeneath. The larger material will be retainedon the bars, although having been somewhat disintegrated by falling ontothe several cutters h and will be conveyed to the point of dischargewhere this material will fall upon the spaced cutters 71 Large portionsof material will remain on the cutters h until such time as thecontinuous passage of the cutters 11 result in suflicientlydisintegrating the material to permit its passage through the dischargespace and onto the belt of a conveyor. It will be noted that the cuttersh are arranged in staggered relation providing four series of cutters,two series of which operate in the space between the cutters k and theother two of which operate in the space outwardly of the two cutters 72The result of this arrangement is to provide for adequate disintegrationof all material before permitting it to'pass onto the main conveyors.

A further feature of the feeder shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 isthe provision designed particularly for the handling of relatively finematerial. For this purpose there is provided a series of plates h"loosely carried by certain of the bars k and designed to rest uponadjacent bars. These plates effectively block off any desired portionsof thespaces between the several bars, thus retarding the flow of finelydivided loose material therethrough. The object of such an arrangementis to prevent overloading and uneven loading of the belt of the mainconveyor. For example, if something of this character were not employed,the dumping of a large bucket of finely divided material into the hopperof the feeder unit would result in substantially the entire quantity ofmaterial passing immediately through the feeder conveyor and onto thebelt of the main conveyor. This would result in overload on the mainconveyor and also in extremely uneven loading of the main conveyor owingto the fact that there would be practically no load on the belt untilsuch time as a second bucket of material were discharged into the hopperof the feeder. Referring to these Figures 4 and 5, it will be observedthat the plates h' are carried loosely by the bars h in order that theymay freely swing to a depending position on the return travel of theconveyor. By virtue of this arrangement the spaces between the bars areunobstructed on the lower or return run of the conveyor. The plates itmay be arranged in any manner desired and may beused in any desirednumbers to accomplish the purposes herein set forth. The particulararrangement shown is merely for purposes of illustration.

One of the outstanding objections to levee construction methodsheretofore practiced or proposed is that they all contemplate thedepositing of large lump-y material into the levee. This invariablyresults in a levee construction which will eventually slip, slide orsettle, owing to the numerous large voids and crevices occasioned by thedumping of one chunk on top of another. Such methods also present a veryserious problem of quantities of organic matter being placed into thelevee undetected because of being incorporated in the large gobs orchunks of which the levee is built. The inevitable decay of such matterresults after a period of time in a defective levee which must bereconstructed.

Hence, the proper preparation of material for levee building is perhapsthe most important step in a successful method for this purpose.According to the present invention in its various forms, this issatisfactorily and economically accomplished by passing all materialthrough a disintegrating apparatus which reduces it to appropriate sizefor introduction into the levee and which also exposes for separationall organic substances which may be embodied in the material taken outof the borrow pit. Thus, in the practice of the various methodsaccording to the present invention, the material taken from the borrowpit is suitably reduced in size for introduction into the levee and inthis connection it may be mentioned that the particular sizing of thematerial may be carried out to meet any desired specifications laid downfor the construction of a levee. The invention further contemplates asan important step in the various methods disclosed the systematicremoval of all objectional substances from the disintegrated material asit passes in a continuous stream along the series of conveyor unitstoward the levee. Thus, the various main conveyor units are in effectpicking tables at which men are stationed at suitable intervals for thepurpose of removing all undesirable matter. This process is readilycarried out with a small amount of labor and is facilitated by thenormal turning and tumbling of the material as it travels along theconveyor units and as it is discharged from one unit onto the end of anadjacent unit. During the entire course of travel of the material alongthe main conveyor system, full opportunity is afforded for the completeremoval of objectionable matter. Thus the matter as it reaches the leveeis an accurately processed material, perfectly suited for the work it isto perform.

A further important feature of the invention in t its various aspects isthe continuity of operations. According to each of the several methodsdescribed, the material flows in a continuous and a substantiallyuniform stream from the borrow pit directly into the levee. This is inreality the keystone of the most rapid and efficient levee buildingmethod that has yet been devised. Of the many methods heretofore used orsuggested, all involve the intermittent handling of large quantites ofmaterial from the borrow pit to the levee, either in one or a pluralityof stages. Thus,

the method herein disclosed may be aptly described as the first'trulymechanized operation for levee construction. The material flows in-acontinuous unbroken stream in relatively small-quantitles at any givenpoint and is continuously discharged into the levee likewise inrelatively small increments, but by virtue of the continuity ofoperation these methods will result in the handling of quantities ofmaterial per hour or per day far in excess of anything heretoforeaccomplished.

In relation to the structural character of the completed levee, afurther feature of outstanding importance is the discharge of theprocessed material from a relatively high point represented by thedischarge end of the swinging boom distributor resulting in a naturalcompacting action as the material falls increment by increment into thelevee. The material thus becomes kneaded into a homogeneous mass,eliminating all voids and crevices and forming an extremely solid anddurable levee. This feature is of particular importance in constructionof the toes of the levee and in relation to the character of material tobe handled. Thus, in many cases it is necessary to work with relativelywet material, which, if not processed as herein described, and if not sokneaded into a homogeneous mass, would be entirely unsuitable for leveebuilding purposes.

It will be noted also that the equipment described in relation to thevarious methods herein disclosed is adapted for the handling of theentire range of materials encountered in levee building work. Thus thefeeders may be conditioned for the handling of fine, sandy material orof very coarse material, either Wet or dry. This is of particularadvantage in that it permits of continuous operation in a large measureirrespective of weather conditions encountered or of changes from onetype of material to another as the work progresses. It is worthy ofmention also that the methods of the present invention achieve entirelynew standards in the matter of labor costs. The work being so completelymechanized it requires a very small amount of labor as compared tomethods heretofore used.

Among the advantageous mechanical features of the present method andapparatus is the substantially constant power requirement. There are nopeak loads such as exist in some of the known methods. Another importantfeature is the large per hour capacity due to the handling of smallquantities of material continuously, as distinguished from thediscontinuous handling of large quantities and the consequent loss oftime in the transmission of empty equipment. The flexibility of thepresent apparatus is also worthy of note. If an obstruction is found inthe normal line of operations, it is a very simple matter to so arrangethe conveyor units as to avoid it. These units need not be in alignment.The excavators may also be readily manipulated to avoid obstructions.

It is to be understood that all reference to and representation ofparticular mechanisms are for purposes of illustration only and that theinvention embraces all manner of mechanism which, broadly, isfunctionally equivalent of that shown and described. For example, thedragline excavators shown may be replaced by shovels, power hoes, trenchdiggers, or any other form of excavating and loading equipment.Likewise, the conveying equipment may be of the belt, flight,

bucket, or any other suitable type. Also, any desired type ofdistributing unit may be employed.

I claim:

1. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavatingmaterial from a borrow pit; uniformly sizing the excavated material byseparating fines from lumps, breaking up the lumps and returning thebroken up material to the fines, moving all the material to the buildinglevee, and continuously and uniformly distributing the material first onone side of and spaced from the base of the old levee to form a toeportion of less height than the old levee and then to fill in betweenthe toe and the old levee to merge the new construction into thestructure of the old levee to form the enlargementdesired.

2. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees ofrelatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the newlevee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving saidmaterial in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, anddistributing said material first on one side of and spaced from the baseof the old levee to form a new toe portion of less height than the oldlevee and then to' fill in between the new toe and the old levee;

3. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees ofrelatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the newlevee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving saidmaterial in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, distributingsaid material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the oldlevee to form a new toe portionof less height than the old levee andthen to fill vin between the new toe and the old levee, deliveringmaterial to the other side of the old levee, and recasting said lastmentioned material to produce the formation desired.

4. The method of building levees wherein previously formed levees ofrelatively small cross section are employed as a foundation for the newlevee, comprising excavating material from a borrow pit, moving saidmaterial in a continuous, uniform flow to the levee site, distributinsaid material first on one side of and spaced from the base of the oldlevee to form a new toe portion of less height than the old levee andthen to fill in between the new toe and the old levee, and deliveringmaterial to the other side of the old levee to form a second enlargementby permitting the material to slip and slide down the inclined side ofthe old levee.

5. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavatingmaterial from a borrow pit, uniformly sizing the excavated material byseparating, fines from lumps, breaking up the lumps and returning thedisintegrated material to the fines, moving all of the material to thelevee site, and continuously and uniformly distributing the materialfrom a location on top of the old levee and in advance of the workingface of the new levee to form the enlargement desired.

6. The method of enlarging old levees which comprises excavatingmaterial from a borrow pit, uniformly sizing the excavated material, moving all of the material to the top of the old levee embankment anddistributing the material from a location on said levee top in advanceofthe working face of the new levee first to form a toe on each side ofthe base of the old levee and then to fill in between said toes and thefull height of the old levee to merge the new construction into the oldstructure to form the enlargement desired.

WILLIAM E. PHILIPS.

